The D2 Project: Engaging rural communities in a new electoral district
Photo: Collage by Chelsea Naughton / America Amplified
The collaborative newsroom based in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana designed a hybrid engagement strategy to earn the trust of rural Southerners
In 2021, a group of Black Alabamians filed a lawsuit charging that the state’s existing congressional districts violated the Voting Rights Act by leaving only one district Black-majority. After a lengthy court battle, the case resulted in a new Congressional district in Alabama with a majority Black population.
As part of the America Amplified 2024 Elections initiative, the Gulf States Newsroom decided to engage with residents in the new 2nd Congressional District. They promoted Maya Miller as Community engagement journalist and hired Nellie Beckett as Community engagement producer.
Beckett, who previously worked as a Library Program Specialist and school teacher, brought into the D2 project her experience in the world of education. “While these fields are different, and someone might say elementary school has nothing to do with journalism, the metastructure of civic life is the same,” said Beckett. “With students, you build trust through consistency, honesty, integrity, following through with what you say you're going to do. You have to establish that positive relationship before you come to ask someone for something. And I think that's as true in journalism as in education,” she added.
Objective
While the district was newly created, the issues that faced this region were not. “District 2 is also a news desert. While it contains the capital, Montgomery, and Mobile, there's also a vast swath of rural Alabama that is not covered by local news,” said Beckett. “The D2 project was about hearing directly from citizens of District 2 about the challenges they faced and the strengths they brought,” added Beckett.
The Challenge
Becket explained that the challenges they faced in engaging this rural population were exactly why this community engagement work is so important. (As she explained this point, she grasped for the post-it note where she wrote a quote saying, “Why we do this work!” as an everyday reminder!)
People were hard to track down. The lack of population density within many of the 2nd Congressional District counties made it difficult to find places where people gathered en masse to organize engagement initiatives.
“In a larger city, you can go to a bustling coffee shop, stand outside a store, or simply walk down the street, and you will immediately find people to talk to,” said Beckett. “In some of the more rural counties of District 2, even visiting the main street on a nice day, it was like a ghost town.”
The Solution
Gulf States designed a hybrid engagement strategy that included in-person and live-streamed events, along with digital tools, to reach as many people as possible.
“One way we got around that was by attending places like food banks or food pantry giveaways where necessity brought large numbers of people to one place,” said Beckett. “But understanding density and assuming that we couldn’t necessarily count on people gathering in person was key to adapting to a digital outreach strategy as well.”
“We went to places like Hilltop Public House, a bustling center of community life, and trusted that we could satellite out to less dense regions from there,” said Beckett. “Another very useful tool was the Hearken embed to gather what people were telling us.”
Gulf States partnered with community organizers like Letetia Jackson, a plaintiff in the lawsuit that led to the new district and the convener for the South Alabama Black Women’s Roundtable. These kinds of partnerships were key to the successful listening sessions at the heart of the project.
The efforts paid off: “I've seen an increase in trust in many ways. A clear indicator is increased sign-ups, more follow-ups on social media, attendance at our listening session, and participation in it,” explained Beckett.
Community engagement producer Nellie Beckett (left) and Community engagement journalist Maya Miller on a reporting trip outside Montgomery. (Gulf States Newsroom)
The Takeaways
Don’t assume. “Do not have preconceived notions about what people might tell you. Even in an area that faces common challenges —such as difficult access to healthcare, food deserts, widespread poverty— the concerns you hear from people are not uniform.”
Educate yourself. “Humbly educate yourself as much as possible. A really unfortunate way to tank trust right away is to ask questions that show you haven't done your basic homework. So, as much as I say don't go in with assumptions, you should go in armed with facts. There can be deep distrust about gathering extractive information from a census, a survey, child protective services, or a documentarian.”
Tailor your coverage to address various needs. “Our coverage was informed by what we heard when talking to people. Hearing from people that food insecurity was a major issue led to Maya's coverage of the Alabama Central Food Bank. Seeing that people didn't even know they were in a new congressional district partially informed Maya's coverage of Get Out the Vote initiative.”
Offer a variety of mediums. “Whether it is a behind-the-scenes story on Medium.com, a quick turn spot for radio, digital content on Election Day, or a longer feature story for one of our newsroom websites – having an audience strategy as diverse as the people we serve was a tactic we used.”
Tell your communities where to find you. “Build your audience whether it's asking folks to follow you, sign up, tune in, or read your website. Ask them: Do you know about your local public radio station? You’ll be surprised.”
Brag about it. Don’t be ashamed of promoting your work. “Show when you are holding gear in the field, make visible your colleagues’ work. Filming and taking photos of what Maya did and producing social content was a big part of building trust, too.”
Community engagement reporter Maya Miller talks with patrons of Hilltop Public House in Montgomery. (Gulf States Newsroom)
Apply lessons learned in the field. With the hurricane season approaching, the Gulf States Newsroom will put into practice insights learned during the District 2 project in its coverage of the upcoming 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. They want to listen to and engage with communities that were not at the center of the coverage 20 years ago – Gulf States plans listening sessions in historically neglected communities such as Biloxi and other communities in coastal Mississippi.
“I have the broad idea that we might hear some stories of trauma, challenge, rebuilding, institutional failure, but also resilience. And I know my New Orleanian pals will roll their eyes at the word resilience. It's a word that puts responsibility on people rather than systems”, said Beckett. “But I have to check myself. I don't know yet what people will tell me. I have to go in with an open mind to show up in good faith.”